Gun Probe Finds 151 Weapons Missing

Published 8:00 pm, Wednesday, January 23, 2002

An investigation into the theft of five handguns from a county evidence room revealed that more than 150 guns had disappeared.

Seven of the firearms have been recovered, including one used in a Bridgeton, Mo., shooting that left a man hospitalized, St. Clair County Sheriff's Sgt. Dave Thornton said.

The guns had been seized by law enforcement agencies in the county and were being held at the circuit clerk's office to eventually be sold to collectors or melted down. County employees discovered the thefts when one police department requested guns it had seized be returned.

A former building janitor, Joseph Williams, 34, was charged with three counts of burglary in connection with thefts from the evidence room in early January.

Authorities said Williams was caught on a surveillance camera taking several guns from the room. They declined to say whether he is a suspect in the disappearance of the other firearms, ranging from handguns to semiautomatics.

None of the 151 missing guns was being held as evidence, Circuit Court Clerk Barney Metz told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for Thursday's editions. He said weapons that might be needed for trial are kept separately in a locked vault.

Metz said the office takes in 50 to 60 firearms a year. The sheriff's department clears them out every few years.

LouAnn Henry, Metz's chief clerk, said the evidence room had been strengthened since the thefts with a wood door protected by two locks.